APRIL 1949 – Two kids enjoy the gifts brought by the Easter Bunny to the garden of their home in Malente-Gremsmühlen, Germany. Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
In 1949, my grandparents, my mother and my aunt had been living for more than four years in their makeshift home in Malente-Gremsmühlen. They had built the house in 1944 to escape the dangerous war that had had hit their hometown Kiel with a venegance. Here, 40 kilometers outside of Kiel, the situation had been entirely different. Not easy, but different.
But the business in Kiel was picking up again, Editha had entered elementary school in 1948, and Inga would follow in 1949. The Easter Bunny being very pragmatic, he selected a sturdy satchel made from leather, a small blackboard, and white chalk, as key gifts. Plus some sweets.
In this picture, my mother is trying on the satchel while my aunt inspects the box with the sweets. While researching this image I found out that in 1949 kids would enter elementary school in Northern Germany right after the Easter holidays, so the gift was indeed perfectly timed. (Today, kids enter school after the summer holidays.)
I like this image because it shows the simplicity of life in post-war times, but also the expression of my mother who seems to gaze into the distance as if imagining her future. In any event, the times would change for the family very soon as the grand parents had decided to sell the makeshift home and move back to Kiel. Which happened by the end of May 1949.
Fun fact: This image was captured exactly on this day, 73 years ago. Wow.
Happy Easter!
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 17-APR-1949 |
| Location | Malente-Gremsmühlen, Germany |
| Image Source | 6 x 6 cm print |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, AdobeRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 2499 x 2598 Pixels |
| Copyright | Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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